Hearts of Light
by EnviousShadow
Summary: In a world of darkness, there are few that hold the power of light; and Feliciano is one of those lucky few. Along with his best friend Alfred and a strange foreign boy named Eirikur, he must set out on a quest to save the world from the dangers ahead.


**Yo~ TheEpicPastaHero here~ I am starting a new fanfiction, since the other two were getting nowhere... But don't worry! I promise this one shall be better! And I'm not given up on this one either! :3**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Axis Powers: Hetalia. APH belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya-san. If it were my own, there would be a lot more action and plenty of yaoi-ish romance~ =u=**

**Please enjoy! P.S. That disclaimer might be the only one.**

"Where are they? Where 'ave they gone?"

"How the 'ell should I know? I've been with you, fool!"

I held my breath, listening closely to the pounding footsteps outside and praying no one was coming near. I had been sitting in this uncomfortable position for a long time; hiding in the kitchen cabinet, nestled securely between my older brother's legs, and hand placed over my mouth to keep my whimpers and sobbing silenced. I couldn't see well in there and the only light I could see was the light emanating through the crack that separated the cabinet doors. Truthfully, it was a wonder that the two of us could fit in that tight space as well as we were.

I could hear the footsteps get louder and my heart skipped a beat. Those terrible people were getting closer—no, they weren't people. No _person_ was that sick and cruel. They were _monsters_. And to my naïve, ten year old mind, they were quite literally gruesome monstrosities and crimes against nature.

"Check in 'ere! They couldn't've gott'n too far!"

I closed my eyes tight and made a soft whine that was muffled by my brother's hand. He pulled me closer to him, as if trying to tell me that I was safe and that he would protect me. I nodded slightly as a response, keeping my eyes closed as I listened to the noises on the other side of the doors.

The footsteps had gotten far too close for my liking and I began to sob a little harder, my weeping muffled and far too quiet for the _monsters _to here. The unpleasant feeling in my stomach was just getting worse as I tried hard not to hyperventilate. There was a dark chuckle on the other side of the door, nearly making me jump out of my skin.

"C'mon out, lads," the voice hummed a little too generously, "We ain't gonna 'urt ya. We just wanna take ya to a nice place outta the area."

"Yeah, a very nice place," the second voice, lower than the first, added in a loving tone, "Where you'll be 'appy and never 'ave to worry 'bout a thing. Doesn't that sound great, lads?"

I could feel my brother tense up behind me, and that caused me to become very apprehensive myself. There was a terribly awkward silence for a good minute and I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. _What are they doing?_ I thought nervously, _Why is it so quiet all of a sudden? Where did they go—?_

All of a sudden, the cabinet doors flung open and I let out a stifled shriek. Standing before us was a large, balding man, grinning at us madly as if he had just found a million bars of gold within that cabinet. His teeth were a horrendous yellowish green and his eyes were outlandishly gold, reminding me of a hungry wolf that was eyeing his prey. He had a large scar trailing from his cheek to his chin, as if he had been slashed with a sword. The very sight of him terrified me, making my face pale. The _monsters_ had found us.

"There ya are, ya 'lil brats," the _monster _hissed viciously, reaching a hand up to grab my leg; but before he had gotten the chance, my brother kicked out his leg, hitting the _monster_ directly in the face and causing him to reel backwards.

"Piss off!" My brother shouted, shoving me forward to get me out of the cabinet. As soon as I was on my feet, I fled for the nearest exit. At this point, I didn't care where I was headed, as long as I could escape the _monsters_ and try to forget this ever happened. I was getting closer to the front door, and I was sure I could escape by now, but all hope was lost when a hand roughly grabbed my arm and jerked me back, making me scream from surprise and pain.

I was now in the hands of the other _monster_, and this one was taller and leaner. His brown hair was dull and graying and he had a cross-eyed look to his silver eyes. His teeth were more yellow than the other man's and they were much more crooked, he also appeared to be missing some. He let out a strange cackle that reminded me of a madman, which didn't ease my nerves one bit. "Gotcha, boy! Ya ain't goin' anywhere!"

Realizing there was nothing else I could do, I did whatever I could to fight back. I began punching and kicking at the man wildly, squirming desperately to free myself of his grasp. "No!" I yelped in fear, "Let me go! Lovino! Help!"

As if on cue, my brother had shown up, punching the man as hard as he could in the face. Surprised at the sudden attack, the _monster_ fell back, losing his grip on me as his back hit the wall. Lovino looked me over for a moment, as if trying to make sure I was alright. The sound of stomping footsteps down the hall made his eyes widen and he quickly grabbed my shoulders and spun me around. "Affrettatevi!" he said hurriedly, leading me toward the door. "We have get out of here…!"

We ran out into the cold fall night, the frosty air making me shudder almost instantly as we ran our way off the porch. How I wished I had time to grab a jacket. I followed Lovino as we made our way to the dirt road the lay before our small house. We lived far out in the woods on the countryside where there were barely any people, and our closest neighbors were a good two miles away. It was a shame, having to be so far away from help at a time like this.

Lovino had stopped temporarily to look around frantically for a place to run. Eventually, he grabbed me by the arm and headed down the dirt road, dragging me along. I glanced over my shoulder to see how far away the _monsters_ were. The two attackers were just standing around for some reason, watching as we ran, but not bothering to follow us. What was going on? What were they planning…?

Then I heard Lovino gasp and he had suddenly stopped running, causing me to slam into his back. Looking up to see what had happened, my eyes went wide at the sight of my brother being held off the ground by his neck by another of the _monsters_. This one was a big, muscular man with deep red eyes and a short, disheveled black hair. He looked younger than the two _monsters _from before, but his toothy grin was just as crooked as the others, and at this point, I was sure all of the _monsters_ had terrible hygiene.

"Ye ain't goin' anywhere, ya little brats!" He chuckled darkly. Lovino squirmed in his grasp, his legs flailing to kick the taller as he gripped the _monster_'s large hand around his neck, trying hard to break free.

"Let my fratello go!" I cried out pathetically, knowing there wasn't much I could do. I ran at the man and attempted to defend my brother, punching the _monster's_ chest. He glared down at my small, pitiful frame, a smirk spreading across his face. Swiftly, he swung out his other arm, hitting me full force in the back of the head, causing me to fall to the ground with a grunt. The pain in the back of my head was so strong that I nearly blacked out. There was no possible way I could defeat someone with strength like that!

Seeing this, Lovino growled in rage and kicked at the _monster_ hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him momentarily. "Don't touch him…!" He snarled at the man warningly, despite the position he was currently in.

The red eyed man glared hard at him, gripping his neck tighter, choking him. "Who the 'ell do ya think yer talkin' to?" He hissed at the gasping boy in his grasp.

Lovino clenched his eyes close tightly, his smaller hands clasping the _monster_'s hand clenched tightly around his throat. I knew he couldn't escape this; the man was sure to kill him. I had to do something! But what could someone as little as me possibly do? I was completely worthless. I jumped at the sudden sound of nearing footsteps and I turned to see the two other _monsters_ were quickly approaching us. I stared wide eyed at them for a moment, terrified and unsure of what to do.

"F-Feliciano… Run…!" I turned at the sound of my brother's voice. His face was pale and he seemed as though he were near death from the choking. "Y-You need to go… while you still can…! Run-!" He was cut off when the red eyed _monster_ had slammed into a nearby tree, knocking the last of his breath out of him.

My eyes were full of tears and I didn't know what to do. I couldn't just leave him! But I couldn't do anything to save him either. The _monsters_ were coming closer and by then I realized I had no choice. Quickly, I jumped to my feet and darted for the nearby woods. My heart was racing when I heard the footsteps following me down the small hill into the wooded area. I knew I was faster than them; I had once outran a large group of angry dogs when we use to live in the city. Nevertheless, I was still scared out of my mind. I could hear the two _monsters_ bickering and fighting about letting me escape so easily and one of them calling to another to take Lovino somewhere else.

I kept running, never once looking back. I even kept running after I couldn't hear them anymore. I hadn't stopped until my legs began to ache and I was out of breath, and by then I had at least ran a mile or two. I hid, or rather, fell into the nearby bushes. I stayed under the safety of the leaves trying to catch my breath for a good ten minutes. After a while of lying there in fear and exhaustion, I heard the familiar sound of thunder in the distance, making me shudder.

As if things couldn't get any worse, it had begun to rain violently. The rain drops cascaded down onto me, making me soaked from my head to my toes. Forcing myself to get up, I trudged about, looking for shelter. Finding a tall tree that still had most of its leaves, I ran over to it, plopping down under it in between its large roots. It was drier under there, but still cold and wet. I sat there, shivering too afraid and shocked to even cry anymore. What could I possibly do now? I was all alone now. I had no one to care for me.

"Bloody hell! Curse this weather!"

I flinched at the sudden sound of a voice. Looking up quickly, I spotted two figures not so far away from me. One was a man with unusually large eyebrows and blond disheveled hair, covered by the green hood of his rain coat. His green eyes looked slightly irritated and annoyed as he walked down a nearby path, umbrella in hand. Beside him was a little boy around my age at the time with dirty blond hair with a small cowlick that stood up from his hairline. The boy wore a yellow rain coat with matching yellow rubber boots. He clung to the taller man's rain coat so that he was under the safety of the umbrella, his ocean blue eyes looking about curiously as if he were looking for something exciting.

Suddenly, his eyes fell upon me, and by the way his eyes lit up at the sight of me, I could tell I sparked his interest. I froze under his blue eyed gaze, unsure of what to do. The boy turned to the man and tugged on his sleeve. "Hey, Arty!" He called out. "Look!"

The bushy browed man looked down at him for a moment, then turned his head to see where he was pointing. When his eyes fell upon me, his eyes widened with surprise. After a good minute of us staring at each other, glanced around, as if looking for somebody else nearby. Seeing no one, he turned back to me curiously. "You there… What are you doing out here by yourself?" He questioned me, " And where's your coat…?"

Unsure of what to say, I sat there quietly, staring at the man. Blinking, the man tried again, "Are your parents nearby?" At that question, I lowered my head with a frown, shaking my head. I hadn't seen my parents in years. Lovino and I had lived together ever since their sudden disappearance. We were our own family. Lovino was all I had left, and now he was gone. I was all alone. I had no one to live for…

The man gave me a sympathetic look, cocking his head to the side. "Do you… have parents…?" He asked suddenly, out of the blue. I blinked in surprise and looked up at him again. After a moment of hesitation, I shook my head in response. This time, the little boy frowned at me with pity. I looked back down at my feet, pulling my legs closer to my chest.

The boy looked back up at the bushy browed man. "Hey Arty. Is he an orphan?" He asked the man, cocking his head. I flinched at those words. _An orphan? _I thought to myself,_ I am an orphan, aren't I…?_ It had never occurred to me, but that was exactly what I was. How pathetic.

The man, presumably "_Arty_", glared down at the little boy. "You fool! Don't just say such things so casually!" He scolded him, "That was rude!"

But the little boy ignored him; instead, he ran out from under the umbrella and off the trail to join me at my side. I immediately tensed up when he neared me, but his smile was so warm and friendly that I couldn't stay too scared. He knelt down beside me so that we were at eye level. "Hiya! My name's Alfred! Alfred F. Jones! But you can call me Al~" He greeted himself, then pointed back at the man, "That guy with the big eyebrows is Arthur. He's my big brother~!"

I looked up at him curiously, then cocked my head curiously at him. He was so happy. It was heartwarming. He then reached out a hand for me to shake. "What's your name, kid?" He asked kindly.

I stared at his hand a moment, contemplating whether or not to take it. Thinking nothing of it, I lifted a wet, shivering hand and clasped it to his, shaking it slightly. "F… F-Feli…cia…no… V-Var…gas…" I said quietly in a shaken voice, my small body still trembling from the fear and shock.

Alfred cocked his head at me. "Feliciano Vargas…?" He asked, and I nodded, "That sounds like a foreign name! Are you from the south?" Again, I nodded in response. My family had lived in the southernmost part of the continent, but we had moved from there five years after my birth. I hardly remembered it by now.

"That is SO cool!" Alfred nearly jumped with glee. He helped me up to my feet, and I noticed that he was a little taller than me. "Are you from Valora? You sound like you are!"

Feeling a little more comfortable, I nodded, forcing a small smile upon my face. "Si… I-I am… I used to live there years ago…"

Alfred beamed with excitement. "Really? I've never met someone down there!" He said, " I could tell because of your funny accent and your tan skin! That's so cool!"

My cheeks reddened a little because of the compliment. I had never been considered _"cool"_ before. Upon seeing me blush, Alfred grinned wider and turned to Arthur, who I hadn't noticed was now standing beside us. "Aww~! Arty! Can we keep him?" He asked the taller.

Arthur gave the boy an incredulous look. "W-What?" He gaped at the boy. I on the other hand, began to blush more from slight embarrassment. I looked down to hide my red face.

"Please Arty~?" Alfred tried again. "Pretty please~? Look at him! He's so cute and little and all alone~ We can't possibly just leave him!" He moved to my side and swung an arm over my shoulder, pulling me closer and causing me to look up in surprise. "Look at him~! You can't say no to that little face~" He poked my cheek. My blushing was uncontrollable, so I squeaked and hid my face in my hands.

Arthur stared down at me with consideration, as if debating on whether or not he should take me in. After a few moment, and a long look at Alfred's extremely cute puppy dog face, Arthur let out a sigh. "I suppose…" He muttered, then quickly added, "But only until we find him a home…! I'm already having enough trouble taking care of you!"

Alfred cheered with joy and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a tight, affectionate hug. "Woo-hoo~!" He exclaimed, "Welcome to the family, new bro!"

I blinked in surprise at that statement, but then I smiled, hugging the other back. Arthur smiled down at the two of us, then sighed softly. "Well, now that that's settled, let's get home before we all catch a cold…"

**So how was that for the beginning? Hope I didn't depress you _too_ much~ ^^;;**

**Review please~ 3**


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